1. Technical field of the Invention
This invention pertains to client/server communications. More particularly, it relates to a common interface for transferring information in name/value pairs into a server agent.
2. Background Art
The Requisition and Catalog (Req/Cat Web) system described in the copending applications above referenced is a framed system in which it is required to share data provided by different servers between frames of a frameset established by a first server. A user accesses the server from a browser into which the first server opens a frameset including a plurality of frames. It is desired that the first server load data into at least one of the frames of the frame set, but that data in other frames of the frameset come from other servers, such as a-catalog.
However, because of browser built-in security features, for data to transfer between frames, it is required that the frames be loaded from the same server.
Thus, referring to FIG. 1, as is represented by interface 505, a first server 40 establishes a frameset including frames 443 and 445. As is represented by line 506, server 40 loads data into frame 443 that includes a selection button which, when selected, calls server 501 via interface 508 with a request to load frame 445 over interface 510 with further data. This may be done. However, if done, heretofore browser security did not allow sharing of information between frames 443 and 445, as is represented by line 511. This is because the data in frames 443 and 445 originated in separate servers 40, 501.
It is an object of the invention provide a system and method which allows sharing of data in separate frames from separate servers.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for transferring large amounts of data that can be shared between frames in a secure fashion between browser and a plurality of servers a web environment.
A system and method for sharing data from separate servers between browser frames, the method including the steps of operating a first server to open a client browser frame set and load data to a first frame; from the first frame, calling a second server to open a window; issuing a post command from the window; responsive to the post command, passing environment variables from the second server to the first server; and loading from the first server to a second frame of the frame set data from the environment variables.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product configured to be operable for sharing data from separate servers between browser frames.
Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.